Anthony’s Struggle with Epilepsy — and how you can help

Anthony Thompson had his first seizure just after his second birthday. Shortly after, he was diagnosed with Epilepsy and was having up to 30 seizures per day on average over the course of 10 months.

He worked with the McMaster Children’s Hospital to find a treatment. After numerous medications, the family agreed to Dr. Gabriel Ronen’s suggestion. After only four days of following Dr Ronen’s prescription, Anthony was seizure free.

“Just like that they disappeared. We were beyond amazed with the results. It has been over three years now that Anthony has been seizure free. Without Dr. Gabriel Ronen and The McMaster Children’s Hospital we don’t where where our family or how Anthony’s health would be. They saved our son’s life,” said parents Melissa and Ian Thompson.

As a means to give back to the hospital and give hope to other children like Anthony, the Thompsons began an annual fundraiser for epilepsy. Over $56,000 was raised over the past two years.

The third Annual Evening of Awareness Fundraiser in support of The McMaster Children’s Foundation Paediatric Neurology and Epilepsy fund takes place on November 6, 2015 at the Grand Olympia in Stoney Creek.

This year, $50,000 is the fundraising goal, with half of the funds going towards Dr Ronen’s research and the other half towards upgrading EEG (electroencephalogram) machines, a device that records brain electrical activity to detect seizures.

“We don’t receive funding for equipment services from the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care so getting funds for this equipment that will benefit the hospital means a lot. The hospital is only as strong as the community,” said Parker Neale, Development Officer for McMaster Children’s Hospital, whose role is to work with community event holders who are giving back to the hospital.

The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care does support capital projects, however they do not provide adequate funds for this type of state-of-the-art equipment.

This is the only epilepsy fundraiser for McMaster Children’s Hospital. Over 1,500 children with epilepsy are seen by the team every year.

“We are dealing with about 130 third party events this year and on top of that are all the events that we do on our own,” said Parker. “We are really trying to put the proper tools in place so when families come and need our support and are looking for answers and don’t know where to turn, we are here.”

A ticket to the Annual Evening of Awareness Fundraiser costs $75 and will include a full dinner, DJ, open bar, and silent auction.

“One hundred per cent of the money raised will be donated,” says Melissa and Ian Thompson in a letter.